Meeting the kids of Mali

In the so-called developed world, we have become somewhat anesthetized to the image of the African kid in despair, naked and living in extreme poverty. That image has become, unfortunately, a cliché and has been used, at times, in a very exploitative way, especially in late night TV ads for charity, where they show African kids, naked and crying, with a sentimental music in the background.

Only a few hours into my first visit to Bamako, the capital of Mali, I confirmed the myth and, in part, I discovered a different side of it.

The first thing that I noticed in Bamako is the large number of kids running around everywhere, unattended, the youngest of them all naked, most of them playing, or running errands for their families. Girls walk with great posture carrying in her heads small baskets, learning, no doubt how to carry groceries and merchandise for their families. The straight-up posture and that special graceful walk that the women of Mali have is learned by the girls at a very young age. Little boys play soccer, or cruise around in tiny carriages pulled by donkeys. 

Mali is a very poor and very young country. Mali has one of the lowest per-capita income in the world and a poverty rate of 44%. 

47% of the population is below the age of 15, and only 2% is older than 65 years. You practically never see older people in Mali. The expectancy of life here is roughly 51 years of age, compared to 78 in the U.S., or 82 in my native Spain. 

According to UNICEF, this year alone,  450,000 children under 5 will suffer from moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and 210,000 from severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

The fertility rate in Mali is also extraordinary: above 6 kids per female.

So, yes, kids are everywhere in Mali. And, in Mali, kids are extremely poor and in serious need.

And still, they don’t hesitate to show their version of that world-famous Malian Hospitality. They always smile, and when they notice I carry my camera, they ask me to take their photo. Then I show them the picture in my monitor and they laugh hysterically.

Contrary to what happens in many other developing nations, some richer than Mali, kids rarely approach you to ask for money. Here they seem to be more interested in looking at me, or in posing for my camera.

Sure enough, toddlers in Mali run around naked, not because their families can’t afford the cloths but because it is considered more comfortable for them, especially in the extreme heat. 

The following photos are just a selection of some of the extraordinary kids that I have seen and/or met in Mali. Their generous smile is for me a very inspiring lesson, and so far my favorite memory of this mysterious and beautiful land.